


Golden Boy

by pokeheon



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Eventual Smut, Fluff, Honeypup, HyungWonho - Freeform, JooHyuk, M/M, Showki, Summer AU, changki, i know its cringey but it will get better, idk how to tag this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 00:29:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14800866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pokeheon/pseuds/pokeheon
Summary: Lee Minhyuk — the boy with a dazzling completeness of beauty, perfect in the eyes of Lee Jooheon. His only flaw? Not liking guys. Or that was what Jooheon thought.





	Golden Boy

**Author's Note:**

> HI FELLOW JOOHYUK STANS  
> follow me on twitter lets cry together about how dead the honeypup tag is  
> twitter.com/pokeheon
> 
> -  
> ((((also i know this is cringey and it was lowkey based on hiGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 im sorry bye))))

_The beach is gentle beneath Jooheon's bare feet. Tips of shells peek from holes made by little creatures seeking shelter in the soft sand. His eyelids fluttered closed as he breathes in the briny aroma mixed with a sweet smell the smooth breeze carried. He knew who it belonged to, the disheveled and distraught figure next to him was now intertwining his long fingers with Jooheon's, the only sounds in the air were from waves overlapping one another. Jooheon was ecstatic. He slowly looked over to his side only to find the pair of glowing chocolate eyes looking at him, the asymmetry of his blinking made Jooheon's heart do somersaults. He smiled tenderly, expecting to receive another smile in return, but Minhyuk just remained expressionless, his eyes slowly diverging from Jooheon's bewildered eyes to his kiss-provoking lips. It took a few seconds for their noses to brush, but in Jooheon's mind everything was in slow-motion...was this really happening? Was he finally going to discover the taste behind Minhyuk's soft, rosy lips? They were so close, so close Jooheon swear he could see sparks flying everywhere... and soon it happened. The kiss wasn't gentle, in fact, it was far away from it... it was actually very... slobbery?_

"AH! What the hell Sanche?" Jooheon said in a taunting tone, palm running across his damp mouth in desperation. His small eyes were now twice their usual size, a mixture of disbelief and disgust in his face as he noticed all of the dog drool that was now on his mouth and cheeks. He sat in the edge of his bed in denial, a loud laugh came from the door breaking him from his internal moment of rage.

"Nice one buddy!" Kihyun held his phone on one hand and patted their tiny chihuahua's head with the other, a faint tremor of amusement on his lips as he made sure to record every bit of his step-brother's meltdown. "Get up, lovebird. You're late."

A dream, _of course_ it was a dream.

He closed the door and Jooheon was left alone in their room again, a sigh of frustration leaving his lips but he was unsure if the reason was the extremely gross display of affection he just received or the lack of. Minhyuk visited his subconscious once again, a feeling of emptiness now fueled the boy, suddenly smitten with unreality as he became more and more late for his morning classes.

"Shit, shit, shit" Jooheon glanced at the alarm clock placed in the bedside table he shared with Kihyun. 6:48, he was late. Again.

He contemplated the piece of furniture that was known by both of them as 'the chair', a place they used only to pile clothes that were clean enough not to go in the laundry, but not enough to go back in the wardrobe. He grabbed an oversized, wrinkled black shirt with the Wu-Tang Clan logo in it and after a few sniffings he decided it was free of unpleasant smells. _That'll do _,__ he thought as he made his way to the bathroom, a toothbrush in his mouth as he tried to put his legs in some jeans he found on the floor.

"We leave in ten!" Kihyun yelled from downstairs and Jooheon bid farewell to his daily morning cereal. He quickly grabbed a black and yellow checked shirt and made his way to the door, stopping in his tracks to come back to spray a little bit of one of his step-brother's colognes, the yellowish round bottle looked the most expensive so Jooheon thought that was the one for their last day before the summer break. Why did Kihyun have so many of them anyway?

Kihyun was leaning in the wooden handrail with a banana in his hand, brows knitted in a frown as he shooted lasers from his eyes at his tidsoptimist friend. He was far away from being as bright as his coral hair, a chippy personality hid under his small figure and irradiating smile. "You're welcome," he handed the yellow tropical food to Jooheon, "are you wearing my cologne?". Jooheon shrugged and dashed to the door, he would forget about it eventually.

A historic centre, some department stores and supermarkets and a few houses passed behind the car windows until they finally made their way to a mid sized house, intricate wooden details gently layered over shingles, stone and bricks. A statuesque boy waited for them near the colorful border of flowering plants that enliven the house's entryway, the soft and diffuse early morning sunlight shining behind him, a cadet blue denim jacket on his slim shoulders and a fake moustache above his plump, pink lips.

"Hello gays! It is i, a hetero!" he said with a cheeky smile as he made his way into Kihyun’s compact car.

"How long have you been waiting to make this joke?" Kihyun said, wryly.

"Too long, actually" Hyungwon scowled as he slowly took off the fake piece of brown hair, the scene similar to a kid in pain while taking off a bandaid. He was probably going to use it later again during his drama club classes.

  
"Blame this hopeless romantic right here" Kihyun held the steering wheel with one hand and squeezed Jooheon's shoulders slightly with the other, earning a _pff_ sound from the younger.

Hyungwon's eyes widened in surprise as he darted to the edge of his seat, head in between the two front seats as he excitedly jolted, "did you get laid?"

Kihyun guffawed and Jooheon brought the palms of his hands to his face as an expression of embarrassment. "Yeah he did," the older's hand left the steering wheel once again, this time to playfully hit Jooheon's leg, and the younger thanked God as he recognized some of the restaurants, shops and bars that gradually appeared, a sign they were near their university, "in his dreams. Literally!"

"Ugh, let me guess," Jooheon didn't even have to look back to where Hyungwon was seating to know that he'd said that while looking upwards with an expression of contempt, "Minhyuk again?"

Jooheon squeezed his eyes shut and let out an involuntary _argh_ , head tilted backwards in his leather seat headrest. He hated how that sounded, _Minhyuk again_. Obviously it was Minhyuk again, it has been Minhyuk ever since he laid eyes on his dandified, pretty-boy-looking sort of figure about a year ago. He realized he still hadn't answered Hyungwon's question, but his best friend knew him enough to get the memo.

"Why can't you just talk to him, like, for real?"

Well, _why_ couldn't he talk to him, like, for real? Truth is, Jooheon had truly given up on some sweet scenario, he was sure his love would be classified in the unrequited category. His fondness hovered a little bit somewhere in the platonic line; unlike in a romantic relationship, there is no fear that Minhyuk would leave him because he was never with him in the first place. In other words, he was scared. Terrified.

Also, it wasn't like Jooheon could come up with a mind-blowing plan to turn straight, boyfriended Lee Minhyuk to _his_ lovey-dovey boyfriend, although, deep in his heart, he hoped he could.

The gloomy, broken-hearted boy opened his eyes to luckily — or better saying, regrettably — find Minhyuk, Hoseok and Soyou making their way to the big glass doors that greeted the unmotivated college students on another painful friday. His arm was hooked around her waist as both of them tilted their heads backwards giggling, their laugh combined with Wonho's as they seemed like the only cheerful people in this hellhole.

At least he wouldn't have to answer Hyungwon's interrogation with his own pitiful words.

"Does that answer your question?" his tone assumed a certain asperity, the words leaving Jooheon's mouth with a bitter taste.

The owner of the vivid, ballet-slipper pink hair shrugged as he closed the car door, looking at Jooheon as if he was missing the most crystal clear thing in the world. Maybe he was. _Maybe_.

"I don't know, i don't really get the non-gay vibe from him," Hyungwon declared, earning an agreeing hum from Kihyun, "besides, i've seen him squeezing his male friends' butts too many times to think about him as a straight man."

Minhyuk was always a sensitive topic to Jooheon, even more when the sexuality issue was brought to the table. He felt the strange need to activate a shield in order to avoid the subject, the most remote possibility of Minhyuk being gay made him want to run for the hills but also quiver with excitement. Minhyuk being gay would mean he had a chance, and having a chance would mean he would actually _have_ to do something. Even though it was heartrending for him to stay in his comfort zone, he liked it.

"How do you know? You've never even talked to him!" Jooheon didn't mean to sound this defensive, he wasn't really the exact person to say that with such property.

"Neither have you" Kihyun vocalized the dimpled, inky black-haired man's inner monologue. It was true, cruel, but true. Behind the relaxed fit white shirt and deliberately ripped jeans was a pretty straightforward man.

"Touché"

◔ᴗ◔

The hallway must have been designed by a manic depressive, either that or someone obsessed by grey. The different clubs the students could join had done their bit by hanging colorful posters, yet the overall impression was of drabness, a clear contrast to the gleeful faces that now filled the hallways. Summer break, _finally_.

"Do you think Hyungwon is going to want a ride home?" Kihyun happily put his notebooks back in his bag, where they would be for the next 8 weeks. Jooheon and him had their last friday class together, the company of each other made their ethics lectures less dreadful.

"Where is him anyway?"

Silence lingered between both of them, the only sounds being from free college students chatting in the hallways. Realization hit the two of them at the same time as they exchanged desperate glares. Hyungwon was in his drama club class.

Jooheon was ready to deny his fate, protest wavering on his lips.

"It's your turn!" Kihyun cut him off before he could say anything. Calling him would be useless, the members of the club were always instructed to turn off their phones in order for them not to ruin their dynamic or whatever, which means the only way to contact Hyungwon would be by going where the classes took place.

The last time they stopped by the club, Kihyun just wanted to ask Hyungwon if he had his anthropology book but found himself trapped in the middle of a pirate attack, the devoted actors forcing him to be part of the scene. They handed him a plastic cutlass, a black hat with a skull in the middle and a fake magnetic feather earring, tears flowing out of Jooheon's eyes as he laughed from the back as sailor Kihyun conquered yet another island.

"Those people are crazy!" Jooheon protested but he knew it would be useless, short-tempered Kihyun was already pulling his arms towards the auditorium that, to his misfortune, was only a few feet away. His expression dulled, lower lip pushed forward as a sign of annoyance.

"Try getting Hyungwon's attention from the back, don't leave the unilluminated part in any circumstance"

And just like that, Kihyun soundlessly opened the plywood door and shoved Jooheon's slight body at the black hole of acting eager beavers. He staggered a little bit before stopping right behind a janitorial cleaning cart, deciding that the mop leaning in the plastic surface would be a good disguise.

The club members were doing some kind of weird impromptu in a circle and Hyungwon had his back facing Jooheon, there was no way he could get the boy's attention like that. _I tried_ , he thought as he shrugged, almost turning on his back to get the hell out of that place as fast he could but stopped on his tracks as soon as he noticed the girl doing a dramatic scene in the middle of the group. He was no expert, but that was clearly way too much.

Soyou. His eyes rolled so hard he could almost see his brain, she could just stand by his side and do nothing and he would still feel like he was in high school and she was one of that popular girls that hang out with about a quarter of the school and always laugh and talk really loudly so everyone can see how oh-so popular they are.

She dramatically threw herself on the ground, the fake crying making her sound like a toddler trying to get attention from her parents. Jooheon couldn’t hold back his own inner child, the whole thing was to cringy and he started to mimic her words with his mouth in a mocking way. He would kill himself if anyone saw how pathetic he was being.

And someone was.

“Not a big fan?” a voice he was sure came from the depths of hell startled Jooheon and all the blood in his veins evaporated, color drained out of his body turning the poor boy as white as a flag of surrender. A twinge of embarrassment leaped in his pulses as he accidentally hit the mop, eyes closed tightly as an automatic response for the ear-splitting thwack he was about to hear.

He froze, where’s the loud noise?

He opened his eyes to find the mop being held by a holy hand, a wave of relief washed over his body as his muscles loosened up a little. His eyes traveled up to the face of his saviour and, by a curious irony of fate, there we was. Lee Minhyuk, in the flash.  
Jooheon’s blood came back in full speed, plasma vessels wide open flooding the skin of his chubby cheeks with all kinds of red. His body declared full emergency state, brain short-circuiting and heart abdicating its duties as he noticed Minhyuk chuckling at his overreaction. He just wanted the ground to open right there and swallow him whole.

Suddenly, Jooheon’s world was flooded with a soft golden light. Minhyuk was right in front of him, the lights coming from the stage illuminating his bright features, he was holding his laughter back in the most adorable way ever. He mouthed the words ‘sorry’ to the petrified boy facing him, a broad smile never leaving his face.

He was way to attractive.

Jooheon unconsciously mirrored his actions, he couldn’t help but laugh too, insides turning to jelly at the sight of the gorgeous boy. He already knew he looked like that, but he still held his breath in admiring silence.

  
“Sorry about that, i didn’t think you were that interested” Minhyuk cut Jooheon out of his stupor state, the proximity the both shared in order not to distract the people in the stage was making the nervous boy high strung.

Jooheon panicked. What was he supposed to say? He was completely sure he’d just seen him making fun of his girlfriend in the lamest way possible. Should he run? But talking to Minhyuk wasn’t even a once in a while experience, it was literally the first time they’ve ever spoken to each other.

“It’s okay” Jooheon settled for staying, what kind of first impression Minhyuk would have of him if he just ran away like this?

“I’m Minhyuk!” Minhyuk was ready to shake hands with Jooheon but there he was frozen again, brain buffering more and more with every minute he spent in the blonde’s company.

“I’m Jooheon”

Jooheon was sure the mini-Jooheons in his brain were in total crisis right now, he could almost hear the sirens in his head as he finally shook hands with Minhyuk. Physical interaction was definitely a code red.

  
At this point Jooheon had completely forgotten about his mission, Kihyun would probably be buffing outside the auditorium right now. His joy didn’t last for long though, students started to leave the stage and all of the lights were being turned on. The class was over, and so was Jooheon’s happy moment.

“You’re funny! Too bad we barely got to speak” Minhyuk spoke in a friendly way. He sounded sincere and that made Jooheon’s day. Probably his whole year as well.

Jooheon was still a bit awestruck to speak, so he answered Minhyuk by quirking the corners of his mouth in a warm smile. Someone called the older boy’s name and both of them looked to the stage were Soyou excitedly waved at her boyfriend.

Oh, right… he has a girlfriend.

“Uh, have a nice summer?” Minhyuk shouted as he made his way to Soyou, Jooheon’s heart clenched a little as he watched the distance between them increase.

“You too!” Jooheon waved Minhyuk goodbye and watched him as he made his way to the stage, Hyungwon coming from the opposite direction with the biggest grin on his face.

Hyungwon gave Jooheon’s butt a quick slap and looped his arm on his friend’s shoulder. The dimpled boy didn’t say anything, his head facing the ground as an attempt to hide the smile plastered on his face. He was pretty sure the whole thing lasted less than five minutes, but at least it was something.

“Speak up, my young grasshopper. What happened?”

◔ᴗ◔

“Trust me,” Kihyun said as he shoved a piece of bread in his mouth, full cheeks making him look like a hamster, “we have some classes together and you do not want to pick a fight with that bitch”

“Language!” Kihyun’s mom said as she placed a bowl of cheesy spaghetti with meatballs in the table, the savory smell making the alien inside Jooheon’s stomach scream for food. There was something about being hungry that robbed his spirit, as if in such a state he wasn’t able to talk at all, especially when the subject was Soyou.

“That… dishonorable person?” His words sounded more like a question, earning a disapproving glare from his mom that faded away after looking at Kihyun’s half-hearted smile.

Their house wasn’t big nor fancy, but it was comfy. Jooheon didn’t expect it to be like this when he moved here right before starting high school, the idea of having to share the house with two people he barely knew gave him an unpleasant knot in the throat.  
His mom left him and his father for an old friend of the family and Jooheon was sure he’d never be able to accept someone new in his family again, that was, until he met stubborn Kihyun and his tender-hearted mother.

  
Jooheon was beyond happy to see his father being able to love again, and Kihyun turned out to be one of his closest friends. Both of them grew up together facing the challenges of a teenage life full of gay drama and comical stories. He liked it here, it felt like home.

The small scale furniture was in the right proportion for their cozy dining area, a timber table with chairs arranged along the sides in the center of the room that was now filled with giggles, mouth-filled conversations and the noise of cutlery clinking against the dishes. Jooheon’s father was probably going to come late from work so any topic was allowed.

“But who is the dishonorable person that Jooheon does not want to pick a fight with?” She said while lifting the silverware in a scooping motion, gathering a small number of strands between the tines of the fork.

“Minhyuk’s girlfriend” Kihyun said as if his mother knew who Minhyuk was, and even worse, who he was to Jooheon. And she knew, everyone that spends a fair amount of time with the besotted boy knew.

“Oh, fight her! Fight for your man!”

Jooheon almost choked on his meatball. How? When? Why? Kihyun probably blurted it somewhere along the long months Jooheon spent crushing on the guy. Anger sparked in Jooheon’s narrowed eyes as he watched Kihyun laugh in the chair next to him.

  
“What? It wasn’t me. She probably overheard you talk about him. That’s all you talk about anyway!”

“True, i got the hint when i heard you talking about one of his instagram selfies for about half an hour. I don’t think i’ve ever seen Kihyun so uninterested in something in my life.” Kihyun’s eyes widened as he tried to send some kind of signal to his mom but it was too late, Jooheon was already looking at him as if ‘betrayal’ was written all over his face.

“Speaking of Minhyuk,” she got the signal with a bit of delay, trying her best to change the subject, “do you know his family’s lakeside country club?”

  
“The one with the really cheap membership fee?” Kihyun asked, irony rebounding in his words.

“The one with really amazing parties and fun activities!” she sounded way too excited and that filled Jooheon with uneasiness, he was afraid of where this was going.

He was glad the summer break was here because it would be the perfect opportunity for him to take Minhyuk out of his brain; the last thing he wanted was to be around the bubbly, dreamy boy.

Ok, maybe that was the one thing he wanted, but Jooheon was still working on that.

“Oh no” Jooheon shook his head, noticing with his peripheral vision a grinning Kihyun.

“Oh yes! I was going to wait for your father to tell you this but we got you both a part-time job there. If you forget about the hard part it can be a really fun trip!”

The room went silent for a moment, crows-feet wrinkles at the sides of Kihyun’s mom eyes as she waited for some thrilled reactions.

“Yay?” He didn’t have the heart to say no, neither the voice to say yes.

“We also managed to get one for Hyungwonie, we know you probably would like to spend your free time together.”

The room went noiseless once again and Jooheon’s inability to hide his emotions was now clear as the light of day. He didn’t like the idea, — in fact, he _hated_ it — he knew he would probably end up spending his day cleaning some kind of olympic-sized swimming pool while Minhyuk and Soyou had the time of their lives sipping on some expensive fruity drinks, showcasing their relationship to everyone.

“Look, i know that’s not your ideal summer break plans, but at least it’s a nice opportunity for the both of you to go out a little more…” she sighed, face softening as she placed a hand on her chin, “besides, i heard the employees there get free food”

“We’ll take it!”

“We will?” Jooheon was caught of guard. He gaped at Kihyun, ready to object, but the older squeezed his hand a little to tight for him to focus in anything but the pain.

Jooheon laughed, but the line appearing in between his brows, right above his glaring eyes, was saying something else. At this point he really didn’t want to say anything, he knew Kihyun way too much to know that he would keep persuading his step-brother until the answer was yes, no matter how much Jooheon hated the idea.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.


End file.
